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Administrators' newsletter – February 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2023).

Administrator changes

Gimmetrow

• Bjelleklang
• Bob the Wikipedian
• Leithp
• WhisperToMe
• 100 inactive admins

CheckUser changes

• BDD
• Bradv
• Donald Albury
• Maxim
• MusikAnimal

Oversighter changes

• BDD
• Bradv
• Donald Albury
• Maxim

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, the administrator policy now requires that prior written consent be gained from the Arbitration Committee to mark a block as only appealable to the committee.
• Following a community discussion, consensus has been found to impose the extended-confirmed restriction over the topic areas of Armenia and Azerbaijan and Kurds and Kurdistan.

Technical news

• The Vector 2022 skin has become the default for desktop users of the English Wikipedia.

Arbitration

• The arbitration case Armenia-Azerbaijan 3 has been opened and the proposed decision is expected 24 February 2023.
• In December, the contentious topics procedure was adopted which replaces the former discretionary sanctions system. The contentious topics procedure is now in effect following an initial implementation period. There is a detailed summary of the changes and administrator instructions for the new procedure. The arbitration clerk team are taking suggestions, concerns, and unresolved questions about this new system at their noticeboard.

Miscellaneous

• Voting in the 2023 Steward elections will begin on 05 February 2023, 21:00 (UTC) and end on 26 February 2023, 21:00 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
• Voting in the 2023 Community Wishlist Survey will begin on 10 February 2023 and end on 24 February 2023. You can submit, discuss and revise proposals until 6 February 2023.
• Tech tip: Syntax highlighting is available in both the 2011 and 2017 Wikitext editors. It can help make editing paragraphs with many references or complicated templates easier.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:38, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

Email

Hi Serge. Please see your email. Thanks. Ss112 07:08, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

Responded. Sergecross73 msg me 14:14, 20 December 2022 (UTC)

Thanks. In lieu of starting a new thread, check this Selena Gomez stan editor out. All-caps ranting at others in edit summaries on Gomez's awards list page ("SHE DESERVES IT", "SELENA GOMEZ IS NOTINATED FOR THIS AWARDS SO SHE SHOULD BE HERE") and now telling me "I will inform on you" because I deleted a promotional source an IP editor added to Gomez's discography... Ss112 00:44, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

I imagine they'll burn out on resistance they'll get from fanboying or be blocked for edit warring after too long at this rate. Sergecross73 msg me 02:28, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

• Hi Serge. Please see your email about an issue involving an editor you and Ferret have previously had involvements with. Ss112 00:53, 29 December 2022 (UTC)

  Uh.... [1], [2]. I'm very concerned about this user's anger and demeanor. "I abhor people like you who show up to articles you have no interest in improving just to fuck with the formatting and piss off the people who actually care. Stay in your lane." And "Busybodies like you are the reason I quit editing Wikipedia outside of the six Strawberry Prince articles that no one else works on but me. When people talk about the stereotypical Wikipedia editor and how awful they are to interact with, they're talking about you. Please leave the articles I work on the fuck alone unless you want to actually improve them." Isn't this the sort of WP:PERSONAL attacks, based on nothing considering I've never directly interacted with this editor before, that get people blocked? Yikes. Ss112 04:08, 29 December 2022 (UTC)

  (talk page stalker) Of all the hills to die on, personal preference in table formatting is a very bizarre choice... dannymusiceditor ^oops 04:28, 29 December 2022 (UTC)

  This looks familiar, I'm certain I read this talk page before, but I don't recall details. Seems like we crossed paths at an AFD but nothing else. -- ferret (talk) 15:25, 29 December 2022 (UTC)

  He's the guy who had a meltdown when he didn't get a consensus to add element types to a Pokemon article or something. (An equally ludicrous hill to die on.) Sergecross73 msg me 15:28, 29 December 2022 (UTC)

  Oh. That. -- ferret (talk) 15:37, 29 December 2022 (UTC)

  @DannyMusicEditor: Who's dying on the hill, me or the other editor? (I was only explaining why I made edits in line with the MOS because they reverted me for it, not wanting to die on the metaphorical hill of it.) Ss112 07:10, 30 December 2022 (UTC)

  I assumed he meant MLB. I was operating on that premise. Sergecross73 msg me 13:48, 30 December 2022 (UTC)

Serge would be correct. I have this page watchlisted; the vandalism report is quite useful, plus sometimes the content/drama on this talk page makes for tasty popcorn (entertainment). Feel free to correct the indent, I'm on mobile and can't tell how many that is. dannymusiceditor ^oops 16:28, 30 December 2022 (UTC)

No worries. Pretty certain there's a bunch of editors who do the same, and that's totally fine. Sergecross73 msg me 16:47, 30 December 2022 (UTC)

Mlb96 has reverted my warning without addressing any of the concerns, telling me to stay off their talk page. As is their right, technically. So their next violation will simply be to block their account. Anyone please let me know if you experience any CIV/NPA problems with them and I'll take care of it. Thanks. Sergecross73 msg me 02:20, 1 January 2023 (UTC)

Threat acknowledged. Now please leave me alone. Mlb96 (talk) 04:44, 1 January 2023 (UTC)

I have no interest in interacting with you either. Interact with people civilly and there's no reason you should have to hear a single thing from me. Sergecross73 msg me 04:50, 1 January 2023 (UTC)

• Speaking of civility, it appears a few days ago Mlb96 tried to criticise me in an edit summary (two weeks later...) on Strawberry Prince saying "If you're gonna mess with the formatting to comply with the MOS, then at least do it correctly" when I never even touched most of the words they "corrected", and I never claimed to have thoroughly gone through the articles they act like they own to comply with the MOS (I only corrected the major formatting issues). Any excuse to have a go at me I suppose... Ss112 10:43, 16 January 2023 (UTC)

  It's certainly strange for someone who struggles to keep his cool in the most mundane of arguments (Pokemon) to try to instigate a reaction like that. Sergecross73 msg me 13:56, 16 January 2023 (UTC)

• Hi Serge. I've sent you an email about any user I've not previously spoken to you about. Ss112

• Addressed, editor warned. Sergecross73 msg me 18:59, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

User:Morbius edit warring

Hi Serge. Please see this thread: User talk:Morbius#Editor is edit warring and editing logged out. It needs attention because this editor is categorically going through and reverting my edits of their bold and misguided changes as I speak. For the record, this editor has been blocked indefinitely from the Italian Wikipedia so that's already bad news. Thanks. Ss112 17:05, 10 February 2023 (UTC)

Sternly warned. Sergecross73 msg me 17:10, 10 February 2023 (UTC)

Help with moving an article

Hi! Do you think you could help me with moving The JOJOLands to The JoJoLands, in accordance with MOS:ALLCAPS? I would do it myself, but the latter is a redirect with history - and I figured it's probably fastest to ask you for help. Alexandra^IDV 00:33, 19 February 2023 (UTC)

Anytime! Done! Sergecross73 msg me 01:08, 19 February 2023 (UTC)

Thank you so much!!--Alexandra^IDV 01:26, 19 February 2023 (UTC)

First, thanks so much for the edits @Alexandra^IDV! Second, does this policy apply in cases where the word is partially capitalized for stylization? My confusion is that "JoJoLands" also involves multiple capital letters in the same word. For example, using a microbiology article (my main focus), PEGylation begins with consecutive capital letters, despite the PEG prefix representing polyethylene glycol that could be represented as PeG in the same way Jo-dio Jo-estar is being represented as JOJO instead of the typical JoJo for this manga's title. Again, thanks for the help! BluePenguin18 🐧 ( 💬 ) 02:33, 19 February 2023 (UTC)

I'm personally a pretty big proponent of WP:ALLCAPS. However, WP:CAMELCASE can still be okay. Sergecross73 msg me 02:53, 19 February 2023 (UTC)

Gotcha, appreciate the clarification! Considering that my wikilinks to this new article have all been changed to The JoJoLands, it seems smoother to retain it this way to avoid edit warring when there is a satisfactory redirect. BluePenguin18 🐧 ( 💬 ) 02:57, 19 February 2023 (UTC)

Music of the Xenoblade Chronicles series

Hi! I was thinking of creating an article consisting of the soundtracks from the Xenoblade series. The music from these games plays a large role in why the series is popular among fans. From a glance, there appears to be enough sources (from each game article) to justify an article for the entire series. I’m sure there are additional sources I can add, especially for the latter games. What are your thoughts? MomoQca (talk) 14:33, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

I think it could be done. I think the series (and Yasunori Mitsuda) is popular enough to create the coverage needed to support it. Strictly hypothetically speaking though, I haven't checked, and I haven't personally made any "Music of (video game)" before either. I think you'd definitely want to go "all out" in making a pretty detailed WP:DRAFT before publishing it though. There's many editors (at times myself included) who often think character/music/etc article splits aren't necessary. For example, I also personally think it may still possible to create a viable Pyra article, though as you've seen first hand, editors were quick to redirect premature versions. Sergecross73 msg me 17:33, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

User:Whippy7's repeated changes without explanation

Hi Serge. For several years now, multiple editors, including Livelikemusic and I, have tried to get Whippy7 to leave edit summaries for all of their edits, which arbitrarily rearrange track listing credits to not how they are credited, but rather how Whippy7 prefers them. If somebody changes them back, Whippy7 often reverts them, either manually or directly, but usually without explanation. They have mostly refused to leave summaries apart from occasional instances, instead preferring to rant at their "shamers" on their talk page. Livelikemusic and I have both replied in a thread on Whippy7's talk page this month, but Whippy7 has mostly replied with rants about how they're a victim and refused to engage with the point of why they are continuing to rearrange songwriters as they see fit. They have taken everything (especially my saying I was exhausted with their edits) as a "personal attack". I have not, in my time on Wikipedia, come across anybody as fixated on track lists and their arrangement/crediting to of songwriters and producers as Whippy7. They have never explained their reasoning for their arbitrary rearrangements and changes and it appears neither Livelikemusic nor I can get them to stop. They have been blocked multiple times for disruption and editing while logged out, and have a long history of final warnings from Livelikemusic and other editors. Would you be able to leave them a message to stop this? The warnings have been happening since 2018. Ss112 04:38, 17 February 2023 (UTC)

They're one of a few editors lately who have completely ignored my warning, gotten blocked over it, and then still don't have anything to say on the matter. It's a confusing trend. But its resolved for now regardless. Sergecross73 msg me 18:18, 28 February 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – March 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2023).

Administrator changes

The Wordsmith

• Fuhghettaboutit
• Spinningspark (deceased)

CheckUser changes

Callanecc

Oversighter changes

Callanecc

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, F10 (useless non-media files) has been deprecated.
• Following a request for comment, the Portal CSD criteria (P1 (portal subject to CSD as an article) and P2 (underpopulated portal)) have been deprecated.
• A request for comment is open to discuss making the closing instructions for the requested moves process a guideline.

Technical news

• The results of the 2023 Community Wishlist Survey have been posted.

Arbitration

• Remedy 11 ("Request for Comment") of the Conduct in deletion-related editing case has been rescinded.
• The proposed decision for the Armenia-Azerbaijan 3 case is expected 7 March 2023.
• A case related to the Holocaust in Poland is expected to be opened soon.

Miscellaneous

• The 2023 appointees for the Ombuds commission are AGK, Ameisenigel, Bennylin, Daniuu, Emufarmers, Faendalimas, JJMC89, MdsShakil, Minorax and Renvoy as regular members and Zabe as advisory members.
• Following the 2023 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: Mykola7, Superpes15, and Xaosflux.
• The Terms of Use update cycle has started, which includes a [p]roposal for better addressing undisclosed paid editing. Feedback is being accepted until 24 April 2023.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:20, 1 March 2023 (UTC)

User still editing while logged out after a warning in 2021

Hi Serge. I asked the editor David829 to stop editing while logged out in 2021. Prior to this, the first time I posted on their talk page, they removed a message while logged out. David829 has recently restored an edit while logged out on One Thing at a Time that they had previously made while logged in that I reverted. More concerningly, David829 does not interact with or explain themselves to anybody, and elsewhere has also utilised editing with their IP address here and, when reverted, then editing while logged in to restore a related edit here. I really believe that this is an attempt to evade scrutiny until or unless their edits are challenged. Ss112 06:52, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

They conceded everything and promised to stop, so I let them off with a final warning. Let me know if it happens any more. Sergecross73 msg me 17:19, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

Nomination of List of video game soundtracks on music streaming platforms for deletion

A discussion is taking place as to whether the article List of video game soundtracks on music streaming platforms is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of video game soundtracks on music streaming platforms until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article until the discussion has finished.

OceanHok (talk) 11:34, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

Blockworthy?

Just saw this reply to a warning I left in January: [3]. Isn't this sort of comment just blockworthy on the face of it? Straight-up toxic presence. Ss112 00:34, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

Warned. Sergecross73 msg me 00:39, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

Need Advice on 'Opera Design Matters' Page

Hi,

As a new user of Wikipedia I was tasked with updating some random articles that may have been of interest to me. Opera Design Matters came up and it was a pretty broken page, still is. I tried to look for some information regarding the company and could only find promotional material from the company itself, and it has very little following on social media of any kind.

I tried to do what I could and saw controversy regarding it from 13 years ago about being a possible advertisement article and tend to agree that is true, although I don't want to make such strong claims without evidence. However, I do want to try to discuss with an admin about possibly electing the article to be a candidate for deletion, as it definitely does not meet the notability requirements WP:N. Specifically, I can't find an ounce of independent information regarding this company; I don't feel it belongs on Wikipedia.

Since I am new, could I get some advice and possibly a second opinion about this article and notability? Xelapilled (talk) 07:24, 28 February 2023 (UTC)

Hi Xelapilled. Yes, absolutely, I'm happy to help. Although, architecture companies are...a bit out of my area of expertise. (I mostly edit in the areas of music and video games.) I can still give general guidance though.

If you do a search for sources, and come up empty, and/or unable to meet the WP:GNG (companies also have the WP:CORPDEPTH standard to consider, but they're relatively similar), then there's multiple ways to handle things.

As far as deletion goes, there's three avenues, depending on the scenario:

1. WP:PROD - This is more of a passive means of deleting uncontroversial things. Basically, you place a tag on the article with short description of why it should be deleted, and if no one objects in a week, a patrolling admin will delete it. You can only do this once though, so if someone's done that in the past, it's generally off the table as an option.
2. WP:AFD - the most common way of deleting articles. Following the instructions there would create a deletion discussion where editors will discuss the merits of the article. After a week, an admin will review and delete it if athere was aWP:CONSENSUS to do so. Probably the path to take if you proceed with this particular article.
3. WP:CSD - This is more for urgent, blatantly inappropriate articles. There's a list of satisfying criteria, but they're largely huge issues like being hoaxes or incoherent to read. I don't believe this article would fit any.

Additionally, there's WP:ATD - alternatives to deletion. Sometimes rather than eliminate all of the content, some of it may be WP:MERGEed and/or WP:REDIRECTed elsewhere. For example, if one found a non-notable video game, sometimes instead of deleting, some of the content is merged to another relevant place, like the article for the company who made the game, or a list of similar games. That said...I'm not entirely sure of anywhere that would make sense with this article in question.

So anyways, there's your options. AFD is probably the best one. Unless someone else unearths a number of major sources that you missed, I'd guess you've got a moderately good chance to get it deleted. Sergecross73 msg me 18:38, 28 February 2023 (UTC)

Thank you very much for the information! I think I'll go ahead and start an AFD for the article and see what happens. Xelapilled (talk) 15:03, 5 March 2023 (UTC)

You Removed My Edit

Hello Sergecross73! I'm Jasmine, a recent Greta Van Fleet Wikipedia page contributor. My college professor assigned me to contribute to any Wikipedia page and use our contributions, which must still be up, as evidence for our Wikipedia breakdown presentation. Unfortunately, as I returned to prepare my presentation, I noticed that you had removed my contribution because of "miswording from a YouTube video." Please double-check that. I'm going to re-upload my edit, and if there is anything I need to edit or source, please let me know, as I need my work up for my presentation. Thank you so much for your understanding. I hope you have a great rest of your day. Regards, Jasmine Jasmine.Porres.100 (talk) 20:40, 13 March 2023 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) You can't use YouTube videos as sources on Wikipedia. They are not considered reliable. ThomasO1989 (talk) 20:45, 13 March 2023 (UTC)

Oh, so should I use an article instead? Jasmine.Porres.100 (talk) 20:53, 13 March 2023 (UTC)

Yes, part of my concern was that you used WP:YOUTUBE as a source, which often isn't usable depending on where the video is from. The other problem was that it was was pretty informally worded. The last line wasn't even a complete sentence. It needs some work if you want your content to stick. Sergecross73 msg me 20:53, 13 March 2023 (UTC)

Okay, I will completely remove that last line as well as i also believed it felt incomplete. And would it still be considered uncredible if it was an interview with a member from the band? Jasmine.Porres.100 (talk) 20:59, 13 March 2023 (UTC)

I've streamlined and reworked it, as has another editor. Sergecross73 msg me 13:54, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

Email

Hi Serge. Not sure if you've seen but I sent you an email the other day about a user who seems fine to mix constructive edits with vandalism and unnecessarily profane edit summaries, who, despite several run-ins with admins, seems to have never been formally warned for their behaviour. For example, this is very clearly not appropriate. Ss112 23:50, 20 March 2023 (UTC)

I've left them a warning, but there's not much else to be done right now. Certainly uncivil and bizarre, but he's made less than 50 edits in the last 3 years, and about 10 of them were nonsense edits in their own sandbox, so there's really not all that much in the way of disruption here. Sergecross73 msg me 04:06, 21 March 2023 (UTC)

Yeah, they act...weird, that's for sure. Let me know if you see them causing disruption anywhere else... Sergecross73 msg me 02:05, 22 March 2023 (UTC)

Madden 23

If you are going to talk to me with that attitude, I’m quitting Wikipedia. The fact that you are an admin and you talk to someone with that attitude is disgraceful, both to yourself and all of Wikipedia. The site says that they want everyone to contribute, but that is not the case. I QUIT!!!! Are you from New York, because you sure are rood. Manny Manatee (talk) 01:46, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

I don't mean to be rude, but your edits (and rejected draft) are far from what belongs in an encyclopedia. We want everyone to contribute, but that doesn't mean all contributions are good and worth keeping. There's plenty of people willing to help you if you want it - myself included. Sergecross73 msg me 03:07, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

I am still trying to decide, should I stay on Wikipedia? Manny Manatee (talk) 14:19, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

I will forgive you, if you teach me how to edit articles. Manny Manatee (talk) 14:37, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

Thank you, your second comment was way less rood. Manny Manatee (talk) 15:02, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

Here's some places to start:

• Check out WP:ADVENTURE - its a good interactive thing you can do to learn the basics.
• WP:5P is the basic ideas of the website, while WP:REFB is a good place to learn how to use sources in articles.
• If your plan is to keep contributing to video game related stuff, MOS:VG is a massive resources of guidance on how to write/edit articles. WP:GAMECRUFT in particular is a good one to read - it's a list of common things to not include to video game articles.
• You can ask me specific questions whenever you want here on my talk page, or if you'd like input from a variety of editors, you can post questions at WT:VG (that's where we first interacted.) Sergecross73 msg me 20:51, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

Thank you. Manny Manatee (talk) 22:24, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

I am stuck on the watchlist teaching thing from first link. I tried it, what do I do? Manny Manatee (talk) 22:47, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

I am unstuck, and finished it. Manny Manatee (talk) 23:54, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

Good, nice work. Sergecross73 msg me 00:11, 24 March 2023 (UTC)

Thank you. Manny Manatee (talk) 02:12, 24 March 2023 (UTC)

Static-X

"That doesn't make any sense, how could someone reasonably believe something was announced 6 months in the future" You know these articles often go years untouched, right? The edit clarified the text regardless. Now it says there was an announcement in the future, whether people should reasonably believe that or not. Lizmo (talk) 00:56, 1 April 2023 (UTC)

No, it doesn't, I made another edit right after undoing yours that better addressed your concern. Sergecross73 msg me 01:17, 1 April 2023 (UTC)

Sega developed consoles

Sorry if i made a mistake but when looking at - for example the Wii, it wasn't 'manufactured' by Nintendo but by Foxconn, As its not Foxconns platform, its Nintendo's - i thought developed and manufactured was different? StarStorm10 (talk) 18:18, 1 April 2023 (UTC)

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. Might be worth starting a discussion about it at WT:VG. Sergecross73 msg me 18:36, 1 April 2023 (UTC)

can we put developed by Sega to be safe, as I have been looking through video game consoles and just because a company has manufactured a product, it doesn't generally mean they developed it, - maybe I will add something else, - like 'Released by Sega'

same with the PlayStation 3 - was manufactured by 'Foxconn' & 'Asus'

what do you suggest? StarStorm10 (talk) 18:39, 1 April 2023 (UTC)

My concern is that there may be something we're missing here. A number of the articles you added it to are features articles. Which doesn't mean "perfect", but does mean that there's been extensive reviewing by experienced editors. It feel unlikely that it received this much reviewing and still had this oversight. We'd probably get more insight if it was discussed more-widely. Sergecross73 msg me 13:34, 2 April 2023 (UTC)

Yeah, I don't know, maybe we should discuss this in more detail within future refences, let me know any updates or suggestions you may have! thanks buddy. StarStorm10 (talk) 01:50, 4 April 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – April 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2023).

Administrator changes

Aoidh

KillerChihuahua

CheckUser changes

Ferret

Guideline and policy news

• A community RfC is open to discuss whether reports primarily involving gender-related disputes or controversies should be referred to the Arbitration enforcement noticeboard.

Technical news

• Some older web browsers will not be able to use JavaScript on Wikimedia wikis starting this week. This mainly affects users of Internet Explorer 11. (T178356)
• The rollback of Vector 2022 RfC has found no consensus to rollback to Vector legacy, but has found rough consensus to disable "limited width" mode by default.
• A link to the user's Special:CentralAuth page will now appear in the subtitle links shown on Special:Contributions. This was voted #17 in the Community Wishlist Survey 2023.

Arbitration

• The Armenia-Azerbaijan 3 case has been closed.
• A case about World War II and the history of Jews in Poland has been opened, with the first evidence phase closing 6 April 2023.

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:11, 4 April 2023 (UTC)

Video Game Soundtrack Streaming

Hey Serge I just want to say I am sorry to hear about your article of game soundtrack on streaming services got deleted it really is a shame to see it go but I hope your not too upset about it also if you are interested there is a website called VGMdatabase where you can find some soundtracks that are streaming so I guess you can check that out. Anyways to wrap it I just want to say thanks for creating the article it was fun while it lasted. NakhlaMan (talk) 14:16, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

Thanks for the kind words, NakhlaMan. It is a bit of a bummer, as its actually my first article to ever be deleted - and I've been here almost 15 years! But its fine, I figured it would happen eventually, I was involved in a couple discussions at WP:VG or other places where editors indicated that they were unhappy with it and would target it for deletion. Oh well. Thank you for your help in maintaining it for these last couple years, I do really appreciate it. You were far more vigilant about it than me. Thank you! Sergecross73 msg me 17:05, 6 April 2023 (UTC)

TechRaptor

Hey Sergecross73,

Not sure if this is the right way to go about it - but wanted to see about re-opening the discussion around TechRaptor within videogame talk / reliable sources. I've noticed your name on a few discussions (I check the page regularly to see what ya'll are saying about different sites) so I figured I'd reach out.

We get cited quite often for our reporting or stories these days, and we've built up a solid team and policies that govern how we create content. Granted I'm the owner, so I'm biased, but one of my larger goals is becoming a reliable source and ultimately getting us a Wikipedia page.

If this was the wrong way to do this, feel free to ignore me! My e-mail rutledge[at]techraptor.net if there's any direct questions I can't answer here! TheRealRutledg (talk) 19:42, 1 April 2023 (UTC)

Hello! I don't mind giving some guidance. However, while I personally appreciate your honesty on who you are, the truth is, you'd probably start off with the cards stacked against you if it's you, the owner of the website, pushing for its use. The community tends to frown upon that - its seen as a conflict of interest, and many would likely see it as you trying to use Wikipedia as a promotional tool. (For the record, I am NOT accusing you of this, I'm just saying its a common scenario.)

Anyways, I'm just saying that, if another discussion were to occur, it would be best if it happens organically by someone besides yourself or website staff.

Anyways, I can give some further guidance if you want, but I figured I'd confirm that you're still reading first. There's been a few people lately where I wrote up a big long response only for it to appear that they likely never came back to see it. Sergecross73 msg me 17:01, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

I'm absolutely reading, and would love to hear any thoughts you may have. I definitely didn't want to push for anything - how Wikipedia works has always been a weak spot for me, so mainly just trying to figure out what I can do to continue to improve our site / workflows, so that we can be seen as reliable! Always striving to be a better outlet for our readers and anyone else who may check out a page or two! TheRealRutledg (talk) 20:38, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

Great, you've got the right attitude. For the record, I'm only vaguely familiar with your website. I'm sure I've read it before, but I don't know anything off the top of my head. So I'm really just giving out general thoughts about how Wikipedia works - I'm not saying your website does or doesn't do any of this. So we're coming from the right place here - you're not pushing for anything, nor am I.

Reliable sources on Wikipedia

Here's some things on what make sources be viewed as reliable or unreliable on Wikipedia

• Website should have established staff, including writers and editors.
• It should be clear that there is editorial oversight - it's not just a place where anyone can write anything. Having an editorial/ethics/reviews policy helps. Stuff that outlines the structure and practices of the website.
• It should NOT fail WP:USERG - again, having it where anyone can write anything. Think wikias, websites that host userblogs or user submissions. If website do this, it should clearly identifiable when its staff versus user content. IGN is a good example. They're usable because they generally make it pretty clear when its a user blog or a wiki entry.
• Staff should have some sort of professional credentials. Like writing for other professional websites/publications, having a college degree related to writing/journalism, etc. Not necessarily everyone, but it helps if there's some examples of it, especially among editors.
• Conversely, so many website list staff, but their bio just says something like "Is the biggest Final Fantasy fan of all time!" or "Beat Mega Man 3 in a hour when they were 11 years old" or some silliness like that. It's not that the presence of this sort of stuff is a hard disqualifier, but if its the only known information about staff, then then it can be.

Notability on Wikipedia (aka "whether or not any subject should have its own WP article.)

• The two core ideas for things have articles are that they meet the WP:GNG and not fail anything along the lines of WP:NOT.
• Certain content areas also have similar but more specific guidance. If one wanted to write an article about a song, they'd want to comply with WP:NSONG. For a website, it would be WP:NWEB.
• The general gist of it is, for something to be considered worthy of having its own article, it needs to have had multiple reliable sources have covered it in significant detail. Not just passing mentions or name drops. And yes, I do realize that its relatively difficult for "websites to cover other websites in detail". It's a reason why I personally don't generally write/create articles for websites.
• Years back, I wrote an essay about why articles get deleted, in a time when I was reviewing and deleting a lot of rough looking articles. Usually because they failed some of the finer points of the information below. It's written on the assumption that someone tried and failed horribly, but upon understanding that premise, I think it could be helpful. Its just my personal thoughts though, not an official essay or guideline. Its at User:Sergecross73/Why was my article deleted.

Anyways, I think that covers a lot of it. Let me know if you have any questions. Sergecross73 msg me 16:27, 7 April 2023 (UTC)